Morning Minute: Coinbase CEO Calls for Bitcoin to Hit $1 Million

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today's top news:

• Crypto majors mostly red heading into Jackson Hole; BTC -1% at $112,300
• MetaMask introduces new stablecoin mUSD, to launch on ETH + Linea
• Plasma’s XPL debuts at $0.45 on Hyperliquid pre-market, 9x from July presale
• XCOPY piece ‘Death Wannabe’ sells for $475,000
• Kanye token YZY falls another 37% to $0.69

💰 Brian Armstrong Joins the $1M Bitcoin Club

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong just laid out his big target:

Bitcoin could hit $1,000,000 by 2030.

📌 What Happened

Speaking on the Cheeky Pint podcast, Armstrong laid out his bold thesis for Bitcoin’s future, predicting $1M BTC within the next five years.

His rationale centers on three major drivers:

• Regulatory clarity, with the U.S. paving the way as a “bellwether for the rest of the G20.”
• Institutional adoption with ETFs, treasuries, and banks leaning further into crypto.
• Government reserves, even floating the idea of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as a potential tailwind.

He joins a growing list of Bitcoin bulls: Jack Dorsey has also forecast $1M BTC, and Cathie Wood has gone further, projecting up to $3.8M by 2030.

And that doesn’t even take into account some of Michael Saylor’s predictions ($40M+ by 2040).

🧠 Why It Matters

Anyone can make a big bull call like this.

But some calls matter more than others.

Brian Armstrong’s view carries weight as the CEO of the largest U.S. crypto exchange and a key player in regulatory conversations.

Big targets like $1M drive:

• Market psychology: Big round numbers like $1M fuel long-term narratives and investor conviction, even if short-term volatility dominates.
• Institutional FOMO: With ETFs booming and corporate treasuries accumulating, the groundwork for Armstrong’s thesis is already being laid.
• Strategic framing: The idea of a U.S. “Bitcoin reserve” may sound wild, but in a world where nations are competing for financial sovereignty, it’s not far-fetched.

And targets like this make it easier for folks buying for the first time over $100,000 to have a nice return multiple in mind (helps with unit bias).

$1M is a meme number, but memes seem to find a way into existence in crypto.

The last big one was early Bitcoiners “selling to the bankers.” Well guess what, that’s actively happening.

So maybe if $1M BTC is memed enough, it will be memed into existence as well…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

• Crypto majors were mostly red on the day ahead of Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole this morning;BTC -1% at $112,300, ETH even at $4,285, XRP -3% at $2.80, SOL -2% at $180
• ZEC (+11%), OKB (+7%) and MORPHO (+4%) led top movers
• The ETH ETFs posted their first day of net inflows ($287.6M) after 4 red sessions
• MetaMask announced its stablecoin mUSD, coming to ETH and Linea soon
• A long-dormant Bitcoin whale moved 670 BTC (~$75M) to open leveraged long positions on Ethereum
• The OCC rescinded its consent order on Anchorage Digital after the bank met AML compliance, restoring its status as the only federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S
• The EU is considering dropping its CBDC plans for a stablecoin
• Singapore’s DBS Bank rolled out Ethereum‑tokenized structured notes, giving institutional investors blockchain access to crypto-linked products
• Gemini secured a MiCA license in Malta, enabling compliant expansion into 30+ European countries under EU crypto regulations

In Corporate Treasuries

• VivoPower pivoted into XRP and Ripple equity, acquiring $100M in Ripple shares alongside its XRP treasury strategy

In Memes

• Memecoin leaders are green on the day; DOGE +2%, Shiba +1%, PEPE +3%, PENGU +4%, BONK +2%, TRUMP -2%, SPX -4%, and FARTCOIN -3%
• YZY fell another 37% on the day to $0.69 and an $89M mc
• SPARK (+80%), TROLL (+20%) and BITTY (+165%) led onchain SOL meme movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

Here's a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:

• Plasma’s XPL token went live for pre-market perps trading on Hyperliquid, opening at $4.65B fdv
• Coinbase added Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial to its listing roadmap, expanding its stablecoin lineup

🤖 AI x Crypto

Section dedicated to headlines in the AI sector of crypto:

• Overall market cap down 4% to $11.8B, leaders were mostly red
• FARTCOIN (-4%), VIRTUAL (-4%), TIBBIR (+4%), ai16z (-3%) & VVV (-7%)
• fxn (+24%), Simmi (+22%) and IRIS (+15%) led top movers

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

• ETH NFT leaders were mixed; Punks +4% at 48.3 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 12.44, BAYC -2% at 11.4 ETH
• Reflections (+19%) and Meebits (+10%) were notable top movers
• Bitcoin NFTs were mostly red or even, no notable movers
• Abstract NFTs were mostly green, led by Final Bosu (+27%) and OCH Heroes (+15%)
• XCOPY edition of 10 ‘Death Wannabe’ sold for $475,000 (only 4 editions still in existence)
• Hyped new mint Cerebro trades below 0.08 ETH mint price after debut